The Financial Times sources say the owners of the owners of Virgin Media and O2 are in talks to create a new TV and mobile power player to challenge BT and Sky in the UK.
Billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Global, which owns Virgin Media and a 10% stake in ITV, is understood to be in talks with Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica to combine their UK assets in a joint venture.
The talks will raise speculation about whether Liberty may be open to including ITV in the deal, as the share price of the broadcaster of shows including Coronation Street and Love Island has hit a 10-year low amid the fall in ad revenues due to the coronavirus.
A merger could lead to a more consolidated UK telecom space with fewer choices for services, but it could also have ripple effects worldwide. Telefonica has been scaling itself back to focus on four markets uniting O2 with Virgin could jumpstart that strategy. Liberty Global, meanwhile, could use this to expand its foothold in Europe and bring its set-top platform (Horizon TV) to more people.
